RUIDOSO, N.M. — There are 127 teams playing at the highest level of college football, each one can carry up to 105 players and out of all of those, UTEP's Kalon Beverly might have been facing the most brutal task in the first two weeks of the 2015 season.

As the Miners opened at Arkansas and at pass-happy Texas Tech, Beverly was a true freshman cornerback, four months removed from high school graduation, in a system built around matching corners man-to-man against a top wideout.

When the University of Texas at El Paso changed defenses after a 5-7 season, coach Sean Kugler remarked that a team would need two Richard Shermans to optimize that system, so imagining what it looked like with a true freshman in Weeks 1 and 2 isn't pretty. Actually watching it in those first two games might have been worse.

By the season's midpoint, injuries, circumstance and performance dictated that another freshman, Nik Needham, line up at the other corner opposite Beverly. And as the season continued to progress, something else began emerging: Beverly and Needham were getting better.

UTEP will enter this season with a pair of sophomore corners, but these are veterans with 18 starts between them, now in a system where they won't be in lockdown man 80 percent of the time.

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UTEP cornerback Nik Needham works on kick returns earlier this year at the Glory Road field.(Photo: Victor Calzada/El Paso Times)

In that cyclical nature of college football, 12 months has turned a glaring weakness into one of the Miners' strongest spots.

"They have a lot of experience under their belts, they are confident, they are bigger and stronger, and they are big corners — Kalon is 6-1, Nik is 6 feet, Brandon Moss is 6-3," Kugler said. "We like having big corners, especially in this scheme.

"They were put in a tough situation and they grew because of it. They are very mature kids and they are two very good athletes."

They don't have much experience in Tom Mason's new system and they are new to cornerbacks coach Derrius Bell, but this Ruidoso feels very different from the one a year ago.

"I'm way more experienced now," Beverly said. "Arkansas was pretty tough. Against Texas Tech I started getting more confident, I started getting more comfortable. Coming into this year, everything is a lot better. I feel like a veteran."

"A lot more comfortable," said Needham, who did take a redshirt in 2014 and now is in his third year in the program. "I feel like I know the plays more, I'm more confident than I was last year."

What's new is what they are being asked to do: a zone coverage scheme that should give them more opportunities to get interceptions. UTEP had five last year, two from cornerbacks (one from Beverly, one from Needham), and only seven of the 127 FBS teams had fewer.

"There's a lot more scheme rather than just man on everything," Beverly said. "I like this defense."

Said Needham: "We get to lay off and press, instead of just all press." He added that interceptions "is what this opens up. This gives us more chances to make plays."

Bell believes more picks are inevitable.

"On average, sure," he said. "You play more zone, you get more interceptions. There are adjustments they have to make, but they are getting better every day."

UTEP is also developing depth at the position. That started last season when Brandon Moss was moved from receiver to cornerback and spent the fall on a redshirt learning it. He and Jaylen Harris are now the No. 2s.

"Last year was tough knowing I couldn't help the team, but I had a lot to learn, so it benefited me," Moss said. "This year is a little easier. I'm learning the calls and the plays.

"This defense helps out a lot. In a zone, you have more support rather than one-on-one."